Updated 14 April
2004
Another
perfect day on Bird Island
(April 14 2004)
Updates new turtle hatching dates and weather information
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Our website is now almost 6 months old. We have had lots of very
complimentary feed back from our guests and website visitors alike. As
of today we have had 4650 visitors and many people have
downloaded our brochure. The brochure is in a low resolution format so
that it can be downloaded quickly. If you would like a proper copy
please email us with your postal address. The brochure is available in
English, French and German, please tell us which language you would
prefer.
We would like to welcome first time visitors
and return visitors alike.
We hope that you enjoy browsing
through our site with its many beautiful photographs and
detailed information about the island.
This page is all about what's happening
on the island and how the various conservation projects are progressing.
Weather
March this year was the
driest we have had for the last 3 years with a total of 20mm for the
whole month. As can be seen from the chart below it is very difficult to
advise guests which are the driest months to visit. However, it is interesting to note that the
391.2mm which fell in January 2003, only fell on 9 separate days, the
rest of the month was dry.
Presently the sea is
glassy calm, turquoise blue crystal clear water. There are very few
clouds and little or no wind. April is one of the hottest times of the
year and daily temperatures have reached 36ºC.
With sea conditions as
they are, Robbie has been taking groups of people out snorkelling. It is
great to have someone who knows the underwater world as going out with
Robbie has opened up a totally new aspect to snorkelling on Bird. Even
guests who have been to Bird many times are going out with him and
seeing things they have never seen before. Also guests who would be a
bit nervous about going out have been very happy to go with him
and have said they are so glad to have had the opportunity to do
something they would never have done on their own.
We are lucky on Bird, on average we have less than half the rainfall of
Mahé and usually when it does rain it blows over very quickly because
the island is so flat. Our many long stay guests will be able to verify
that!
Sooty Terns
Every day more and more
Birds arrive in the vicinity of the island and we now estimate that the
numbers are in hundreds of thousands. Most evenings they are landing
between 6pm and 7pm. We have now finished cutting back all the
encroaching vegetation, uprooted the Tribulus Cistoides (a very
nasty ground creeper with five or six sharp barbs on each small seed)
Due to the very dry weather we have been able to burn the colony twice,
the second time managing to burn the areas that were too damp the first
time. We have also used the new cutter which was imported specially for
the job to cut areas which wouldn't burn.
Turtles
The Hawksbill Turtle
season is now virtually at an end. The Green Turtle laying season
has now begun. We have had 3 nests since 29 February at 15 day intervals
so it's likely to be the same turtle. A Green Turtle can lay up to 7
times in a season. Although the Green Turtle nests throughout the
year, the peak season is between May and September.
Unfortunately for the guest, these creatures which are much bigger than the Hawksbill
lay usually at night so it's a lucky guest who will encounter one on a
midnight stroll around the island!
Turtle Statistics since October 2003
Green Turtles:
Since October we have had 12 nests.
Hawksbill Turtles:
The Hawksbill Turtle nesting season which began with our first nest on
30 September has now resulted in 148 nests.
Steven, Rose-May, Lizanne, Elsa and Georges all do
regular beach patrols to record turtle activity. We also ask all our
guests to report any sightings and we explain to them what to do in the
event that they see a turtle coming up the beach. If a
turtle is reported nesting, when possible we will tell any guests we see around so they
can go and watch.
14 April 2004:
160 nests
Total Number of beachings (including
beachings which did not result in a nest):
211
Expected Turtle hatching dates: (Based on an
average 58 days
incubation) - hatching can vary
depending on the temperature and rainfall.
April: 14, 15, 21, 23,
25
May: 01, 03, 05, 08, 10, 14, 15, 26
June: 03
Hatching
Success:
14 April 2004
Nests Hatched:
137
Hatchlings Live:
11611
representing 92 nests
Nests invaded by crabs - all
eggs eaten: 7 nests
Nests - no hatched
eggs all infertile: 7 nests
Nests eroded by wave action:
3 nests
Nests which hatched
earlier than expected
(hatchlings not seen): 28
nests
Due to the normal
pattern of beach sand movement at this time of year we have had to
move 13 turtle nests to a safer location higher up the beach
 Back
to Turtle Project
Birds
Common Noddies
 The
majority of Noddy chicks have now fledged. We had a very interesting
pair of Common Noddies incubating an egg. One of them had a white patch
under its chin, a hint of albinism. We watched with interest to see how
the chick would turn out. From the photo on the left it is obvious that
the gene has carried on in the chick, with far more startling effects.
It has pink feet and the lower bill is pinkish yellow. It has
successfully fledged and it seems that it has been accepted by the other
Noddies. When it flies the albinism is quite obvious as there are large
white patches under the wings. It will be interesting to keep an eye on
this bird to see what it does in the future.
Lesser Noddies
A lot of nest building
activity as well as egg incubation at present. The first chicks have
already hatched.
Tropic Birds:
Recent ringing has now brought the total of ringed birds to 40 Chicks
and 37 adults. We now have a new nesting site established which brings
the total of nest sites to 32. There is a lot of competition for nesting
sites. Recently Robbie has put a barrier of phosphatic sandstone rock
pieces as protection in front of each established nesting site. We hope
that this will discourage predators like crabs, Turnstones and Mynah
birds from raiding the nest. He has also put the rock in front of
potential nesting sites in the hope that the rocky area will look
attractive to nesting pairs.
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
Nothing new or
strange has appeared recently on the island. Once the present spell of
weather breaks and we get some windy spells we expect that migrants on
their way north will be blown in and will be around for a day or two
catching their breath before continuing on their long journey to their
breeding grounds in the far north.
Migrant Count. This count gives the maximum number of Birds
seen on any one day since 14 March
Most Common migrants:
2 Curlew, 58 Whimbrels, 46 Grey Plovers, 200 Little Terns, 250
Turnstones, 23 Greater Sandplovers, 16 Lesser Sandplovers, 32 Crested
Terns, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Black-winged Stilt, 330 Frigate Birds,
2 Pacific Golden Plover, 27 Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper,
2 Ringed Plovers, 158 Bridled terns, 6 Crab Plovers, 11 Greenshanks
Rare vagrants:
1 Amur
Falcon, 1 Jacobin Cuckoo, 1 Greater Short-toed Lark, 1 Common
Whitethroat, 1 Red-throated Pipit, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Masked Booby, 1 Brown
Booby, 1 red-tailed Tropicbird
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